58 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



Siamese, Samoan, Ceylon, Pemba, etc. Until more work 

 has been done in the identification of coconut varieties, it is 

 quite useless to present elaborate descriptions of these varie- 

 ties. 



The coconut is essentially a tropical plant and thrives best 

 inside the boundaries of the true Tropics from sea level up 

 to an elevation of about 2,000 feet. It appears to thrive 

 equally well in almost any kind of soil, even in coral sand 

 and in brackish water. In fact, it grows well along the actual 

 fringe of the sea beach where its roots stand in salt water. 



For planting, mature nuts from trees which regularly yield 

 a heavy crop are selected. The nuts are held for thorough 

 curing for a period of 2 to 4 weeks before planting. They 

 are then planted in rows 4 to 5 feet apart in the nursery and 

 barely covered with earth. The nuts are laid on one side and 

 mulch of straw or leaves may be placed over the germinating 

 nuts. The coconut nursery should have some shade for the 

 best results. Germination requires 3 or 4 months and about 

 90 per cent, of the nuts germinate. The seedlings are trans- 

 planted at about one year of age. The nuts are often planted 

 in the field without the use of a nursery but the care required 

 during the germination is much more expensive in the field 

 than in the nursery. The planting distances vary greatly in 

 different localities. As a rule, in commercial coconut planta- 

 tions, the number of trees per acre ranges from 50 to 150. 

 In some old coconut groves there are 300 or even 400 trees 

 per acre. With such close planting, however, the results are 

 not at all satisfactory. 



The growth of coconut trees is much improved and earlier 

 fruiting is promoted by clean cultivation or intercropping with 

 sweet potatoes, soy beans, or some other suitable crop during 

 the first two or three years. The trees in plantations treated 

 in this manner develop a much larger trunk and come into 

 bearing two or three years sooner than would be the case in 

 a neglected or uncultivated plantation. After coconut plan- 



